# Dunhill London Mixture



## lestrout (Dec 10, 2007)

With all the drama around the recent reintroduction of Dunhill blends, I thought I might recalibrate my taste buds with some of the old tins I have so when I TADded a new round I would see if I needed to rerank my Top100 cellar. My expectation is that the 'new' stuff is the same Orlik weed that was last available in the US and also identical (except for label cosmetics) to current stuff in Europe and Japan. The tin I've had open is the 'Made in EU' unpainted format with the huge round Lane sticker on the bottom.

The appearance of the leaf is the usual Dunhill, with medium-fine ribbons of dark tan Virginias dispersed with darker Latakia and maybe Turkish. Unlike some of my favorite American blends, there are no stems or chunks in any of my Dunhills. The scent of the blend was mild and no toppings jumped out, not that I would expect in any Dunhill other than Royal Yacht or Three Year Matured.

First light was easy, as the moisture content of Dunhills is always slightly on the dry side. Sometimes if I puff the charring light a bit and quickly tamp while puffing, there is no need for a second light. The flavor was a medium English, a little austere and not particularly Balkan in style. Again, as is typical of Dunhill, the smoke has a good mouth feel and pretty fair volume for a non-flake. The taste is interesting, but no prominent flavors of nuttiness or fruitiness manifest themselves. The flavor spectrum is wide rather than deep, and not as complex as most Peases. The flavors develop a bit as the bowl progresses, and nicotine is light. The cut of the ribbons makes for a moderately fast burning bowl.

This blend is not terribly picky as far as type of pipe or substrate go. I get about the same experience in Dublins, pots, stacks as well as meers, olivewoods and mortas.

Room note is dominated by the Latakia, which I assume is Cyprian. All in all, London Mixture is a straight up, middle of the road English, well behaved down to the proverbial white ash (another typical Dunhill trait). But my Top100 ranking puts a number of Peases, C&D's Grant's, Peretti's, Georgetown Tobacconists, McClellans (especially some of the new reissued Club blends) and Hermit's above it.

I don't pick up big differences with the Murray's version, other than a slight effect of age.

I somehow prefer this to DH Standard Mixture Medium, which is similar in style. But within DH, Aperitif, Durbar, Nightcap, 965 and Standard Mixture Mild rank above London Mixture.

hp
les


----------



## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Great review!


----------

